Mohave County miner., 1887-01-29

highland he made the polar bear ~
white as the snow to show that they be-
longed to his following. Aftcrward
cssae the hnrcs, and were made white.
Then came the wolves, and their coats
were changed, but as some OF them al
lowed themselves To be caught by his
renegade children 49, the Innnits- - and
trained 10 draw their sle1ges over tile
snow, be- changed his mind and made
them light gray and turned tho dogs
blnci again. and told the wolves tliat
until they brought back their errirg
brethren he would not make them ptiiee
white. SO 10 this day the Esquinaa
dogs ara dark. The wolves from which
they sprang ara nearly white. and
wherever the latter meet the former
they kfli them and suck their blood.
Then came the ptarmigan, the tiDsid
bird, and was made white: but so fear
ful was il that the elder god woglld
take away even the short wings it had
given IL that when the elders returned
from the south they found the ptaririi-
gan In a dlsky coat, and not until they
hid gone again did il pat on its new
feathers Of white.
Ard 80 the willy fox, fearing that the
elders would not supply 1t with all the
eggs il could eat in the summer IL 1t
wore the cnemy's unsorm, returned to
It's coat of blue during that time. and
with many sly winks and hypocritical
assumptions put on its white fur as soon
rs the last Of them were gone and COM
menced worshipinz the southern god so
fG away. But the musk-ox, and the
wairus, and the big whale had all ruled
under Tornarsuk and loyalty believed
that 20 would be back and restore the
ola manner Of things and they all re.
tained their cid coats of black. Give
lac something begged the musk OK,
with which to chew the winters hard
gtasg." His prayer was TO the southern
ssoi and he made him teeth, hut made
Item white and so that all the others
could see. Give me something to
search for tho mussels and CLAIMS that
since the intense cold have burrowed
deep in the bottom Of tho sea-" be-
seeolied the wairus, and he made him
tusks, but he made them white. Give
me .5omething. oh! southern god, in
which may wrap myself TO keep me
from freezing IN your chilly waters, I"
asked the whale. and he covered him
with n foot or two of fat, but he made
il white. as his emblem.
Most loyal of all to the cider duck
Sere the Innuits, who had been the
cause Of all the wrangling that was end
ing in the destruction OF the country,
and against them and their god all the
wrath Of the great southern deity was
held. He told all the animals aud birds
that until they became loyal once again
to him. and became white, he would not
convert Aksharnak into an Eden as OF
yore; bat if by the time his sun was
weary of visiting the cold northland
they had not relented he would send peo'
pie whose faces were white to that land,
and when the dark.faced men and
women and Gali-skinned animals and
fishes were aSli dead Akshainak would
be- as before. And now, my friends,
whose fathers fathers father told this
so very long ago, and whose listeners
laughed at the th,ught Of such curious
people as those with skins On them like
the polar bear, let me say that the white
men from the south are truly among us,
and it is too late for us to repent, but
over our bodies will bloom many kinds
Of brilliant flowers that we see not in
our summers now, snd on our graves
will shine q never-setting SUM-
And in the silence which followed this
narrative I could not help but think that
however poorly or POLITICALLY it may be
worded. whether in legend, story, or
plain facts. this simple people, too, like
al the others OF our continent, recognize
their inevitable extinction before the itd-
vancing march Of the whites. Frederick
SchwatEa,